After production was halted due to COVID-19 earlier this year, BATTLEBOTS is back for a brand-new season of epic robotic combat. Sixty teams from across the globe have converged for the hardest hitting, unremitting, steel splitting tournament in combat robotics. Unproven rookies, up-and-coming stars and legends in the game will throw their fearsome fighting machines into the BattleBox for a chance to walk away with the preeminent prize in robotic sport: The Giant Nut. The ultimate robot-fighting series, BATTLEBOTS returns for an all-new metal crunching season, premiering Thursday, December 3 at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel.
The action-packed metal madness kicks off with an epic main clash – former world champion Ray Billings with his lethal bot Tombstone faces Jack Barker’s End Game from New Zealand. Other stars include Whiplash and SawBlaze, both with championship aspirations. Captain Shrederator, hoping to spin its way to a win against Lock-Jaw, and Bloodsport, who will be out for blood against Skorpios. This year’s builders have put their robots to the ultimate test and will stop at nothing to take down the competition.
Sportscaster Chris Rose and UFC fighter Kenny Florian return once again to provide play-by-play commentary, while Jenny Taft reports from the builder pits and Faruq Tauheed is the ring announcer. Also, a new expert will be joining the commentary team: the Bot Whisperer, aka BATTLEBOTS veteran and robot guru Peter Abrahamson.
Filming with cast, crew and bot builders was carried out under the strictest health and safety protocols, with constant supervision and regular testing, and without a live audience. Instead, the spectators were the teams themselves, watching all the action (and their competitors) from specially constructed “opera boxes” placed around the giant BattleBox arena.
Each match consists of two remote-controlled robots competing in a single, three-minute round with the goal to destroy or disable their opponent. If there is no knockout during the battle, a panel of judges will declare a victor. Their goal is to qualify for the 32-team, single elimination World Championship Tournament, culminating in the award of The Giant Nut at the end of the season.
Each episode highlights the design and build of the competing robots and profiles the teams behind them. Competitors come from all types of backgrounds – from families to university students and everything in between. Every machine is homemade and constructed from a variety of materials with custom-built weaponry to destroy the competition. The youngest competitor is just 11 years old and this season’s lineup includes the first ever 500lb walking robot.
In addition to watching BATTLEBOTS on Discovery, viewers can join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #BattleBots and following Discovery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Fans can also use the BattleBots AR filter (WT) on Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat to share which bot the randomizer selects for them.
BATTLEBOTS remains the most popular robotic combat sport in the world, created by Ed Roski and Greg Munson and now seen in over 150 countries. It is produced by BattleBots, Inc. and Whalerock Industries. Executive producers are Chris Cowan, Edward P. Roski (Trey), Greg Munson, Tom Gutteridge and Aaron Catling. For Discovery Channel, Scott Lewers, Joseph Boyle and Wyatt Channell are executive producers and Paola Espinosa is associate producer.